The air was still a bit damp after the small bout of rain the evening before as Ryder made his way over to the Trendy Tavern once again on this balmy afternoon in early June for lunch with his new mates. He took the afternoon shift off this day so he could have the time.
As he walked inside, he admired all the fancy decorum: the rustic-looking chairs and tables; the granite bar, lined with patrons and beer taps; the overhanging lantern lights; the funky paintings and table arrangements here and there… He eventually found the front counter, where he ordered a turkey sandwich and a salad to go with it.
Ryder then sauntered over to the far corner; that’s where he saw Gaffer, the orange one, with all of his mates gathered alongside. He pulled up a chair and popped a squat.
“How's it going?" Gaffer called out.
"I'm fine, mate!" Ryder shot back.
"What's up with Ryder today?"
"Not much... I may be visiting my brothers for a while; we've yet to iron out the details, so to speak."
"The ones who work down in Ponyville? Those brothers of yours?"
"Yes," Ryder assured.
“Ohh - those are your brothers?” Sweetcream Scoops asked. “I may have seen Liam stroll into the family shop once or twice.”
“Liam, the curly one?”
“He has some very handsome curls,” Scoops remarked.
“I heard he works in the mines,” Cheerilee commented.
“He works in those big lumber yards they have out there,” Ryder corrected. “He’s a first-rate lumber stacker, but he also works the saw from time to time.”
“What about Danny, that other one?” Moondancer asked.
“He works in the gem mines.”
“That’s good to know.”
“Where do your other brothers work?” Ivory asked.
“You mean Sammy, Bill, and Harry?”
“Yeah…”
“Well, last I heard, Bill was in Big Creek, not doing much… Sam’s working for the street department in Ponyville and junk… and Harry, I think, may be doing trade deals for the market in Ponyville.”
“Sweet.”
At that moment, Ryder’s sandwich was set down in front of him, along with his salad, which came with a dish of dressing that he could pour out as much or as little as he pleased. He picked through it, removing things that he didn’t like, before pouring a generous amount of the dressing on the salad and tossing it about with his fork.
“What’s that?” Lyra asked, pointing to Ryder’s sandwich.
“It’s the turkey sandwich I ordered,” he said.
“What’s it taste like?”
“Let me take a few bites first, hon…”
Ryder picked up the sandwich and sunk his teeth into it.
“Tastes nice,” Ryder complemented. But there was a small taste that reminded him of home…
“However, it seems as though the meat’s imported…”
“What’s that, mate?” Gaffer interrupted. Ryder set down his sandwich.
“I think the meat’s been imported… it’s a shame that you don’t make your own lunch meat. I’m a bit surprised, actually.”
“I’m sorry, big guy, but we don’t have much in the way of meat… we’re mostly herbivores,” Poindexter stepped in.
Ryder dug into his salad while Diamond Rose told a joke to a few others on the other end of the table. Wolfing down about half of it, he realized that he was in the mood for something intoxicating… something sweet… perhaps a pint of root beer.
“As soon as I get finished,” Ryder resolved in his mind.
He took a few more bites of his sandwich and tackled the rest of his salad; it all went down a treat.
He ordered his root beer right after. He made his way over to the bar and got himself a pint of Equestria’s finest, and he went back to the table, where a few of his mates already had mugs full of the stuff.
“Hey, I see you’ve already got a mug,” Shining Armor said.
“Hell yeah, matey!”
“You know there’s a proper way to taste root beer, right?”
“You have to drink it a certain way?”
"It's how you can truly experience the drink, mate."
"Alrighty then... show me!"
"Okay..." Shining adjusted his chair. "First, just take a small sip, and tell me what you're tasting."
Ryder took a swig of the root beer. "It ain't as sweet as I would expect, but rather, it's bitter and I can taste it going down my throat. It's not too overpowering either."
"That's the first thing you have to remember... every individual brand of drink has its own unique qualities to it. Now, do the same with the next sip, but swish it around like mouthwash, and tell me how it tastes after that."
Ryder swished the root beer about. "Now it's mellowed out a bit, and I can taste different things too."
"What you've done now is blended all the spices as well as released the aroma and flavor..."
"That's neat."
"Now about those bitter notes you mentioned... if it's real earthy and bitter like that, then you'll know that there's sarsaparilla root, sassafras, anise, and so on that gives it that sort of flavor. If you find that it's real medinical, herb-crazy or a mess of different flavors, then there's juniper, wintergreen, licorice, birch bark, and so on. If it's sweet, then we have sugar and vanilla."
"If I may ask a question, what makes a perfect root beer, in your opinion?"
"For me, there has to be a balance between earthy and sweet; it can't be so herb-laden that it bites you in the arse, while at the same time, it can't be sugary to the point that it gives you multiple cavities."
“So with that in mind, can I drink some more?”
“You sure can!”
Ryder took a big gulp of his root beer. “Tastes great… still a bit on the bitter side…”
He then swished around his next gulp. “But when you swish it about, you can taste the sugar and vanilla. Overall, very nice.”
“That’s not a bad tasting for your first try.”
Ryder chuckled a bit. “Thanks, mate.”
“You’re welcome.”
At that moment, Ryder felt as though he had to try more. He ordered a pint of ginger ale so that Shining Armor could walk him through the tasting process.
“Does it taste crisp and clean, or is it real sugary and syrupy?”
“It’s got a nice sweetness to it, not too much bubbles, and I can also taste…” He swished it about once again. “...vanilla, caramel, and a touch of citrus.”
“Niiiiiiiice!”
Ryder downed the rest of it in seven gulps, then unleashed a loud burp afterwards.
“Excuse me,” Ryder giggled.
Ryder ordered a pint of cream soda.
“How does it smell?”
“It smells of a very lovely vanilla.”
Ryder took a sip. “It’s very strong on the vanilla, and that creaminess is also there… it tastes fantastic.”
“What else can you taste?”
Ryder swished the second sip. “Is that molasses I taste… and caramel?”
“Wow, that’s a good tongue you have there!” Meadow Song comments.
“Thanks, mate!”
Ryder slams down the rest of the pint. “It’s honestly like drinking vanilla cupcake mix, but in a good way.”
“Are you ready to head back, mate?”
“I have to work the evening shift at the coffee shop… so yeah, let’s make some tracks back towards town,” Ryder said.
“I’m with you there,” 8-Bit seconded.
With that, Ryder paid for his lunch and the three pints he had, walked out the door with Gaffer, 8-Bit, Poindexter, Shining Armor, and Cadence alongside, and headed back into town.
"It was nice getting to know you better," Cadance chirped. Ryder smiled back at her.
"We really need to start hanging out more. I mean, come on, mates, we have the whole summer ahead of us to do whatever - go to clubs, throw parties, piss about - whatever!" 8-Bit chimed in.
"Those are some wonderful ideas, mate, but you also have to consider the fact that I'm a working boy, trying to pay our bills and whatnot. I may also head down into the valley to see my brothers few a couple weeks," Ryder said.
"Don't worry, mate, we're your bestest," Gaffer said. "We're bezzies!"
Ryder's smile grew ever wider at the idea of being bezzies.
....................
Ryder’s Journal
August 28, 1988
What a summer
it has been…
Many things happened
over the past
three months.
First of all,
my new bezzies
are almost like
family to me.
My other three brothers,
Sam, Bill, and Harry,
finally have their
citizenship papers
and residency certificates
in hand.
I visited them
for three weeks
over the summer
in Ponyville.
We had one hell
of a time
while I was there;
fishing,
trapping,
hiking,
off-roading,
and pubbing.
But that’s all
in the past now.
Onto a more
pressing matter:
School is starting
first thing
Monday
morning!
Kimberly took me
around town
to buy school supplies.
We hit up the
stationery stores,
bookstores,
import stores,
and tech stores.
We also went
to the clothiers’
to pick up an
assortment
of new clothes
for both of us.
Let’s face it:
living solely out
of your suitcase
and a few other
odds and ends
gets rather dull
after a while.
We bought
custom-mades,
ready-mades,
designer clothes,
you name it.
Most of these
don’t actually
look bad at all,
considering that
it cost us
roughly CS£300
for the lot.
We picked everything out
last week.
I think I’m more than
ready for school
at this point.
Now that I’ve gotten
all that out of my system,
I’m going to hit the sack.
We get up
at
6:00 AM sharp.